Fonts + LIcensing
I get a lot of requests from students
Main
Places to
find Them
This is not a full list but a list of where most of
my favorite fonts are found.
Google Fonts
fonts.google.com
Most of these are open source and free to use for
commercial and personal use making these a
great “go to”. You can go to fonts.google.com and
organize your search by font type (thick, thin, serif,
script etc.) helping you find the right font for the
right project a breeze.
Adobe Fonts
fonts.adobe.com
If you have a subscription to the Adobe Creative
cloud you get access to something very valuable
to every designer. You get access to 100’s of
premium fonts. Premium fonts are a higher quality
font developed by some of the top type foundries
(the creator of fonts) in the world.
There are some great options and they allow you
to download the fonts without ever leaving the
Adobe software by searching your font window.
Also they have pre-made packs you can access
that contain font themes that are helpful for finding
fonts that pair well together. This is a huge value to
the cost of that monthly Adobe subscription.
Free Sites
Dafont.com
1001freefonts.com
fontsquirrel.com
Free sites like dafont.com and the others listed
here are great ways to find a unique font. The issue
with using these sites, often, is you may need to
credit the font creator in some way.
Some are open for personal use without giving
credit and some are not available for commercial
use unless you go to the font creators website and
purchase the full commercial use licenses. A lot of
font designers place their fonts here in a way to
make sales on their premium license.
about where to find some great
solid starter fonts. I wanted to
create a document that contains
particular fonts I have used and
Adobe Illustrator
loved over the years and also where font menu
you can find them.
There are a couple of dependable places to find fonts. The one thing you really
have to watch out for is having the proper license to use a font.
There is usually a license file (or it may be listed on the font download page) for
every font found Online. Some fonts require you to purchase them, others are
totally free to use and will say so in the license type. There are two main licenses:
a “personal use” and a “commercial use”.
Personal use FONTS
Can be used for anything that is considered a personal fun project, a practice
project you may do in this course, or items that will not be sold for profit or used
in a client project where you are getting paid.
Commercial use FONTS
Have an extra extended license that allows you to use the font for profit making
projects, like paid client work or even using the font on t-shirts you plan to sell.
Some fonts on google fonts are free to use both commercially and personally
without paying for them. Fonts you may find on dafont.com may require purchase
of a license to be able to use it commercially.
What can make this a bit complicated is each font has its own unique license. It
is great to check each font to protect yourself and to make sure if you use a trial
font, or one that is just for personal use, that you keep track of that somehow, so
you do not accidentally use it for paid work or client work without getting the
right commercial or extended use license.
I suggest keeping a word document or file that lets you know the licenses of your fonts,
even then, sometimes licenses can change if another company or font foundry no longer
makes it free.
If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription you can star certain fonts and
make font lists to keep your fonts in order. When you have hundreds installed
(which I do!) it can get a little hard to manage them all without having and using
stars and lists to keep them in order.
You can also locate fonts by font type (serif, sans-serif, scripts) a very helpful tool available
in the latest versions of Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
fonts.google.com
fonts.adobe.com
dafont.com
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CONT.
Places to find What I look for in a strong font
premium paid fonts Lots of different font weights for maximum flexibility with type hierarchy
Having an italic version of the font is VERY useful as well.

Fonts that are versatile with style (Not too strong and can be used for multiple projects)
Creative Market
creativemarket.com Readability - I avoid script typefaces that are hard to read in any format
fontshop.com
myfonts.com A font that has numerals and other symbols included
Sometimes you have to purchase a premium font (Some free fonts do not include numbers, apostrophes etc. and can be a tough font to use)
from a premium paid font foundry or website.
Some of these are worth the purchase price as
the quality goes way up on the font style and
functionality of the fonts. Once again you can
buy different level licenses depending on how
you plan to use the font in a client project or on
your own graphics/templates if you plan to sell
them on the market.

Favorite Google fonts

Sans-serif

Spartan Open Sans Lato

Spartan Open Sans Lato
Spartan Open Sans Lato
SLAB serif Spartan Open Sans Lato

Roboto Slab Arvo Spartan Open Sans Lato

Roboto Slab Arvo

Arvo Raleway Quicksand Spartan
Roboto Slab Raleway Quicksand Spartan
Arvo
Roboto Slab Raleway Quicksand Spartan
Roboto Slab Raleway Quicksand Spartan
Raleway Spartan
Raleway
serif

Merriweather Playfair Display Abril Fatface

Merriweather Playfair Display Only comes in one weight
but still a solid option for a
Merriweather Playfair Display bold thick sans-serif

Merriweather Playfair Display Alfa Slab One Regular

Merriweather Playfair Display Only comes in one weight
but still a solid option for a
Merriweather bold thick sans-serif

For serif fonts, make sure to check out how it looks in

Script/Decorative

Pacifico
italics, an important quality in a great serif font.
TIP
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Favorite Adobe fonts

Sans-serif serif

Benton Sans Fieldwork Baskerville Linotype Didot

Benton Sans Fieldwork Baskerville Linotype Didot
Benton Sans Fieldwork Baskerville Linotype Didot
Benton Sans Fieldwork Baskerville
Fieldwork Baskerville
Benton Sans
Fieldwork Baskerville Big Moore
Benton Sans
Big Moore

Futura Bree Quatro 
Futura Bree Quatro 
Futura Bree Quatro 
Futura Quatro 
Futura
Bree Quatro
Futura Bree Quatro
Quatro
Script/Decorative
SLAB serif

Josefin Slab Mokoko AMBOY

Only comes in one weight but
Josefin Slab Mokoko can make an excellent headline
with it’s super bold presentation.
Josefin Slab Mokoko
Josefin Slab Mokoko al Fresco
Josefin Slab Mokoko Script fonts are hard to recommend and
depend on the style and unique placement of a
Mokoko script typeface. Giving you an ultra fancy
recommendation here.

fonts.adobe.com has font packs

you can download that have
all been expertly paired together
as a cohesive set.

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Lindsay Marsh - Graphic Design Masterclass
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Favorite FREE DAFONT.com FONTS Remember that some of these fonts
may only be for personal use only.

Sans-serif serif

Script/Decorative

SLAB serif

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Favorite PAID premium FONTS
Sans-serif
Avenir
Avenir
Avenir
Avenir
Avenir
Available on monotype.com
as a premium paid font
Paid Font Bundles
ALL-YOU-NEED BUNDLE VOL 2.0!
Available on creativemarket.com
as a premium paid font bundle
By Letterhend Studio
The Chic & Unique Modern Font Bundle
Available on creativemarket.com
as a premium paid font bundle
By New Tropical Design
I do not make any money off of the sales of any premium fonts
I recommend. I find that font bundles tend to be a better deal
than one font purchases.
serif
Bodoni 72
Bodoni 72
Bodoni 72
Available on monotype.com
as a premium paid font
Glamour Absolute Modern/Vintage Font
Available on creativemarket.com
as a premium paid font
By Nicky Laatz
The MEGA FONT COLLECTIONS 2020
Available on creativemarket.com
as a premium paid font bundle
By Garisman Std
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Lindsay Marsh - Graphic Design Masterclass
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